Six new members chosen for Appalachian League Hall of Fame

The Appalachian League announced the six newest members of their Hall of Fame and it includes two proponents of baseball in Bristol.

Current Bristol, Tennessee Mayor, and team owner Mahlon Luttrell is one inductee along with Dotty Cox who along with husband Boyce were fixtures around the minor league teams who came to Bristol beginning in the 1980s.

Other new members include former 11-time all-star Orlando Cepeda who played in Salem, Minnesota Twins legend Joe Mauer who started his career in Elizabethton, a 17-year veteran for the Phillies Jimmy Rollins who starred in Martinsville, and Joe Necciai a member of the 1952 Bristol Twins who achieved a rare baseball milestone when he struck out 27 batters in a 7-0 win against the Welch Miners.

(IMAGE: Ron Necciai, right, receives congratulations from his manager George Detore after his 27 strikeout performance in May of 1952 / Courtesy of Associated Press, Minor League Baseball / MLB)